Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Happy Wednesday to you all! How has your week been going? I
hope it has been good. Matt started back at work again on Monday, and since
then I have been trying to find a routine to get into again. Being a housewife
can get boring sometimes if you have nothing to fill your time, such as no
internet, no cable and no car to get you out and about. Yep that’s my life
right now. At least until today. The cable/internet guy is *suppose* to be
coming by today to get those going. Hopefully nothing happens to make him not
come today.

I am at Starbucks using the wifi yet again to get my post up
and running because, well, there isn’t much you can do as a food blogger if you
have no internet. Keep your fingers crossed that they show and we will have
internet by the end of the day.

As for not having a car during the day, well that certainly
isn’t much fun. Matt works in the city and we live in the burbs, so it takes
him anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour to get to work every day. And then
the same to come home. Yeah it sure makes for a long day. And we only have one
car now because our other car got totaled while we were in New Zealand (don’t
worry, everyone was ok in that accident) and we just can’t fork out the money
right now to buy another car.

The worst part about only having one car is when I want to
walk my booty to Starbucks to use the wifi, or go get ingredients needed for
some baking or cooking, it is a bit of a walk. We weren’t smart enough to
choose the apartments right next to Target or Safeway. And on top of that, we
live in the city that doesn’t see sunshine for half the year. So let’s just
hope that I don’t melt when walking out in the rain. I guess I’ll either be cooped
up in this apartment (that I absolutely love by the way, despite being sad that
we aren’t closer to stores) or I will get myself into better shape trekking out
in the rain. If you pass me by, make sure to stop and say hi – I’d like to know
there are others out there :)

So let’s talk about these donuts. I have been wanting to
make some apple chips because I bought five pounds of expensive super
tasty honey crisp apples, but I don’t own a mandolin (yet), and I learned fast
that my food processor wasn’t going to give me the perfectly round chips that I
was hoping for. I tried. And it didn’t work. So I improvised and sliced my
apples in the food processor anyway, coming up with my ideas all the while. I
had a brill idea to cook the apple slices in some apple cider with a few
cinnamon sticks, and to add the cooked apples plus some of the cider into a
donut recipe.

Presto, they are beautiful and oh so yum!

This is the perfect recipe to make the day before
Thanksgiving to enjoy on the morning while you are preparing that luscious
turkey! Make sure you give these babies a go! There apple-icious!

1/2 cup buttermilk (you can make this by combining
½ cup milk with ½ Tbsp. lemon juice and let sit for 5-10 minutes before using)

3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

for the sugar coating:

4 Tbsp. (1/4 cup or ½ stick) butter, melted

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

directions:

For
the apples, core and thinly slice the apples using a knife or food processor.
Add the apples and the apple cider to a pot over high heat. Add in the cinnamon
sticks and the 2 Tbsp. of sugar. Give the mixture a stir to coat the apples and
bring to a rolling boil. Once there, turn the heat to low and cover and simmer
for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Drain
the apples, reserving the liquid. Remove and discard the cinnamon sticks (I
stuck mine in a cup to make the kitchen smell nice)

While
the apple mixture is cooling, make the donuts. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C,
and spray a donut pan with non-stick spray.

Make
your buttermilk if you didn’t already have it on hand.

Using
a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, beat the softened butter and ¾ cup
sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and then vanilla and
beat until mixed in. Beat in the buttermilk. Beat in ½ cup of the reserved apple cider liquid. Reserve the rest of the
liquid for other use. You could make mulled apple cider with it.

In
a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and
cinnamon. Slowly stir this mixture into the wet ingredients, making sure not to
over mix. Finally, stir in the cooked apples until combined.

Pour
the batter into the donut pan, filling to the top, and bake 10-12 minutes,
until the dough springs back when touched. Remove and allow to cool on a
cooling rack.

For
the coating, melt the butter in the microwave in a microwave safe dish in 10
second intervals, until fully melted.

In
a separate bowl, whisk together the cup of sugar and ground cinnamon.

Dip
the donut first in the butter, then into the sugar mixture to coat one side of
the donut. Return to the cooling rack and enjoy within a few days.

And that stinks about not having two cars. We don't have a single car but I guess that's like complaining about living in NYC without a car. It's annoying when you want to go grocery shopping, though! Or apple picking.

I completely know how it feels not having a car at all too. We didnt have one when we were living in New Zealand. It really is not fun at all having to go grocery shopping without one, especially in the rain.

I'm glad things are going well but I'm sorry you aren't having too much fun with all the stuff that hasn't fallen into place yet. Here's a tip: since you're going to be cooped up, make the most of it. Make a weekly menu, grab all the ingredients to every meal on your menu on the weekends and then cook up a storm during the week while matt's at work and take advantage of that natural light you're so blessed with during the day! :)

Thanks for stopping by! I would love to hear from you. Due to spam overload, I am now moderating comments. Don't fret if your comment doesn't show up right away. It is there, I promise :) Thank you for chatting with me!!